In early 2002, I confronted the most difficult challenge of my 21 years of legal practice.  It didn’t involve high-level negotiations in a mediation room, or even courtroom theatrics.

It occurred on the stage of the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif.  There I sweated it out during the most stressful final exam of my life, performing a seven-minute standup routine which crowned a semester of comedy classes.

The law profession has a way of compelling its members to schedule marathon, seemingly endless, work routines.  So in the interest of achieving balance in my life, I forced myself to sign up for a comedy class and schedule it in between mediation sessions.

As a professional, I found myself getting into a grind just like other lawyers, conducting so many mediations that cases started to become cookie-cutter affairs.  I figured that a diversion completely outside the realm of what I do for a living might instill some freshness in my professional routine.